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On the verge of releasing his first album of new material in four years, David Lee Roth seems poised to make a comeback.|
The first two singles from his DLR Band, "Slam Dunk" and "King of the Hill," were released March 20 and are quickly infiltrating radio airwaves in preparation for the band's upcoming, still-untitled full-length album due later this spring. The singles are a return to the big rock sound Roth helped make famous during his early days with Van Halen.
"I love [that] sound and I keep taking round trips to it," Roth told JAMTV on Thursday from his Los Angeles home. "Yeah, I do other stuff like the 'California Girls/Gigolo' thing, but I continually return to this."
For the first time in his career, Diamond Dave has found himself without the support of a major label. Now, he's going the indie route -- and he's going strong.
"We recorded in a traditional studio," Roth said, "and from that point, we printed up all the CDs in my backyard -- almost 1,000 now -- and shipped them out across the country to various radio stations and media."
The singles were released on Roth's label, Wawazat! and feature two young virtuoso guitarists, John Lowery on "Slam Dunk," and Mike Hartman on "King of the Hill."
"These guys are [in their] early '20s," Roth said, "and just as Eddie Van Halen and Steve Vai were perhaps the guitar sounds of the '80s, these guys are what's right now. You'll hear elements of the past there because they grew up shoplifting my early records."
Roth says he plans to tour over the summer and will probably perform some songs from his Van Halen days, which shouldn't be tough considering the influence that band had on his current lineup.
"We were rehearsing and I said to the fellas, 'How long would it
take you to learn some classic songs' and they said 'Oh, we already
know them.'" (Joe Hauler)